NASB LEGISLATIVE NOTES Tracking the 2021 Legislature from the Nebraska Association of School Boards

JANUARY 25, 2021 www.NASBonline.org #liveNASB #weLIVEhere

107th Legislature, 1st Session YOUR 2021 EDUCATION COMMITTEE DAY 13 - CALL TO ACTIONS AS COMMITTEE HEARING BEGIN ... SEN. LYNNE WALZ, CHAIR SEN. JEN DAY With Committee Hearings beginning today, NASB has narrowed in on around 80 bills that we feel have the potential to directly SEN. LOU ANN LINEHAN impact public education and/or how you as school board SEN. TERRELL MCKINNEY members are able to serve your districts and communities. SEN. ADAM MORFELD SEN. DAVE MURMAN The following bills will be heard this week that we need your help in contacting the members of the SEN. PATTY PANSING BROOKS Revenue Committee to voice your concerns: SEN. RITA SANDERS LR 22CA (Linehan At the request of the Governor) - Constitutional amendment to limit the total amount of property tax revenue that may be raised by political subdivisions DURING SESSION, THE EDUCATION This will be heard Wednesday in front of the Revenue Committee COMMITTEE MEETS ON MONDAYS LB 408 (Briese) - Adopt the Property Tax Request Act AND TUESDAYS IN ROOM 1525 ON This will also be heard Wednesday in front of the Revenue Committee THE 1ST FLOOR OF THE CAPITOL Both LR 22CA and LB 408 are an erosion of local control ... These proposals puts a 3% limit on property tax asking regardless of valuation, excluding new construction and annexation. JOIN US ONLINE! A number of spending controls and restrictions are already in place such as levy limit, basic LEGISLATIVE ISSUES CONFERENCE allowable growth rate, and allowable reserve limits. Ask your Senator to let you do your job FEBRUARY 1 | 9:00 AM TO 1:00 PM as an elected official. “WE LIVE HERE!” LB 364 (Linehan) - Adopt the Opportunity Scholarships Act and provide tax credits REGISTER NOW AT This will be heard Thursday in front of the Revenue Committee THIS BILL HURTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Contrary to proponents’ claims, the dollars sent to https://nasb.enviseams.com/ private school scholarships would otherwise be tax dollars for public schools and other state priorities. Nebraska already ranks 49th in the nation for state support of K-12 education. We need to be investing in our public schools—not diverting dollars to a system we’ve never funded STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST before. This bill would provide a dollar-for-dollar tax credit to individuals and businesses ON ALL BILLS NASB IS FOLLOWING that contribute money to private school tuition for some students, up to half that person or & DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THE corporation’s income tax liability. The state doesNOT provide such favorable treatment to any other type of charitable giving, whether to churches, food banks, or cancer research. LB 364 is ‘ADVOCACY HANDBOOK’ UNDER expensive. Read more in the ‘Summary’ section of https://nasb.enviseams.com/legislative-bills THE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TAB OF www.NASBonline.org THE 2021-22 REVENUE COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, Chairperson - 402-471-2885 - [email protected] SHARE YOUR STORY Sen. Joni Albrecht - 402-471-2716 - [email protected] KNOW YOUR DISTRICT’S DATA Sen. Eliot Bostar - 402-471-2734 - [email protected] UNDERSTAND THE DATA THAT WILL Sen. Tom Briese - 402-471-2631 - [email protected] MAKE A DIFFERENCE Sen. Mike Flood - 402-471-2929 - [email protected] Sen. Curt Friesen - 402-471-2630 - [email protected] Sen. Brett Lindstrom - 402-471-2618 - [email protected] NASB LEGISLATIVE TEAM Sen. Rich Pahls - 402-471-2327 - [email protected] COLBY COASH, JOHN SPATZ, MATT BELKA & VICKI WALTER-WINTERS CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 LEADERSHIP INNOVATION VISION ENGAGEMENT #liveNASB #weLIVEhere 1311 Stockwell Street | Lincoln, NE 68502 | 800-422-4572 | www.NASBonline.org | www.twitter.com/NASBonline | www.facebook.com/NASBonline NASB LEGISLATIVE NOTES Tracking the 2021 Legislature from the Nebraska Association of School Boards

JANUARY 25, 2021 www.NASBonline.org #liveNASB #weLIVEhere

107th Legislature, 1st Session CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 THIS WEEK’S HEARINGS ... MONDAY, JANUARY 25 LB 135 (Wishart) - Change special education reimbursements LB 153 (Wayne) - Include virtual school students in the state aid to schools formula LB 210 (Murman) - Change provisions relating to part-time enrollment and extracurricular activities

LB 260 (Hunt) - Change provisions relating to good cause for voluntarily leaving employment under the Employment Security Law LB 286 (Walz) - Redefine a term relating to schools LB 287 (Walz) - Change school finance base limitation and local effort rate provisions LB 288 (Walz) - Change dates related to certifications and distributions of state aid to schools LB 289 (Walz) - Redefine a term in the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act

LB 323 (Walz) - Change provisions of the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act relating to pandemics WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27

LR22CA (Linehan At the request of the Governor) - Constitutional amendment to limit the total amount of property tax revenue that may be raised by political subdivisions LB 83 (Flood) - Change the Open Meetings Act to provide for virtual conferencing

LB 112 (Albrecht) - Require members of the public to be allowed to speak at each meeting subject to the Open Meetings Act LB 408 (Briese) - Adopt the Property Tax Request Act THURSDAY, JANUARY 28 LB 364 (Linehan) - Adopt the Opportunity Scholarships Act and provide tax credits FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 LB 88 (Morfeld) - Protect free speech rights of student journalists and student media advisers

KEY DATES OF NOTE: • The NASB Legislation Committee met January 22 to discuss all key bills • The annual NASBLegislative Issues Conference is February 1, and will be held virtually • Speakers include: Speaker Hilgers, Sens Walz, Flood, Lindstrom, Brewer & Briese • Register now at https://nasb.enviseams.com/ • The final day of the 107th Legislature, 1st Session is currently scheduled for June 10